Not been a bad Winter

I've been relatively good over the winter and managed to fit in one long ride nearly every week. These were supposed to be 'base-training' rides and would give me more chance to be stronger and fitter this coming 'season'. Running out of time always happens at the most inconvenient time though, so just when I should have been drifting into the 'speed' phase of my master plan, it all went a bit astray. So, a couple of months on I am in good shape - strong, comfortable on the bike for long periods, climbing pretty well and still slow. Three out of four aint bad though, I'll take it.

We had planned to go to Wales at Easter, quite a group of us, and perhaps ride the Chain Reaction Marathon at Builth. The best laid plans and all that .. not everyone's winter was as full of riding as mine and plans for a family ride on the Mini marathon course were shelved for another time.

Brother Paul, daughter Elly and wife Sara cruising down Bonk towards the dam. Lucy was at the front with Uncle Dick.

We had a good couple of chilled days, took the kids out riding off-road and up a few more hills than they are used to, ate out, wandered the Elan valley and saw a brace or Peregrine, watched the RSPB kite-feeding and had pretty good weather considering the snow of the previous week. All is never lost when you spend quality time with nice folk.

The other guys decided to make tracks after breakfast on Sunday, so Molly suggested I do the marathon anyway. I didn't fancy having her hanging around for hours so decided to do the mini marathon - 30km.

This isn't a race as such, some people are racing, but many just ride. Previous years have taught me that hanging at the back of field does cause issues once you get on some of the singletrack so, having started by the 'Fat Nobs queue here' sign, I passed a few people on the first road section whilst we were (all) cycling behind the pace car. Consequently, I ended up in a comfortable place once we ended up on the sections of the course where the effort to overtake isn't worth the reward.  With hindsight I should have lined up along the 'Done one of these before' sign because I would have been comfortable going a bit quicker. There was one chap just ahead of me as we came off the moor and back onto the road for the last few km back to the finish. I didn't worry about chasing him, It didn't matter - I was very happy with the ride.

The results came out and to my surprise I was sixth and only four minutes behind the winner. Ok, it's all a bit arbitary, because your position when the pace car pulls off and you leave the road does dictate how many people you can get past and how fast you can go. So there were probably quite a few others who could have been sixth. But they weren't, I was :-)

The Southern XC racing scene is on the back burner but I hope to have another bash next year. 2012 will see me doing less, but better.  

MBL course is next and I prepare to identify more shortcomings in my fitness level and riding skills. As usual, I look forward to learning lots and upping my game, helped by the very talented guys at Cyclewise, later this month.